February 2017 Meeting Minutes

Meeting Minutes for February 2nd

                                                                                                                                            February 2, 2017

The Jetmore City Council met in regular session on February 2, 2017.  Mayor Derek Olson called the meeting to order.  Roll call was answered by Councilmen Mike Hendrickson, Jesse Pitts, Pete Shewry, Scott Smith and Larry Steinbring.  Also attending were City Administrator Michael Ort, City Attorney Eric Harman and City Clerk Deb McKivergan.

Minutes of the previous meeting were read as presented and Councilman Shewry asked that it be noted in the minutes that the increase in the Administrator’s wages was 4.8%.  The minutes were approved as corrected.

Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve the bills for January, Appropriation Ordinance #2017-01.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Rose Mary Saunders, with Ranson Financial Services was on hand to execute the loan agreement with KDHE for the temporary financing of the water tower project.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to approve Ordinance #650, an ordinance authorizing the execution of a loan agreement between the City of Jetmore and KDHE.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Gary Seiler met with the council asking for temporary help, if needed, from our water and sewer department in the case that their certified employee is not able to perform his duties.  It would only be temporary and the duties would be minimal.  He also asked about the possibility of using Jetmore’s fire truck to help them with their ISO rating.  Mr. Ort will visit with the fire chief to see what regulations are in place and whether we could do this or not.

Sheriff Walker presented the monthly activity report and presented a damage report from the recent ice storm.  He presented a yearly report for tickets in municipal court.  He also discussed signage for the fairground area to prevent vandalism and to keep people on the designated driving areas.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT REPORT:  Economic Development Director Lea Ann Seiler was absent but prepared the following report.  She has been working with students and preparing for the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge on March 13th in Jetmore.  There have been some great registrations.  The Rooster Roundup and the Longest Tail Feather contest winners have been selected and will be announced soon.  She is working on the Jetmore brochure for the Central Brochure Distribution as well as updates for Wild West Country Magazine.  She has recently attended several event shows and has more planned for this spring.  Camp Wild Women registration has opened and they have increased to 75 women this year.  Ms. Seiler has been assisting with Emergency Management and FEMA for the disaster declarations for Hodgeman County, the City and the Cemetery since the January 16th ice storm.  She recently discovered the value of a thermal camera that is a minimal cost and works with a free app on your smart phone.  She asked the City to think about ways they could use it and possibly look into purchasing one.  She has been invited by KSU to visit with their Entrepreneur and Innovation Class about opportunities in Jetmore, she highlighted the opportunities she sees and asked for council input on other possibilities.

CITY ATTORNEY REPORT:  City Attorney Eric Harman reported that there were 42 court cases in January and 10 people attended court.  He discussed the recent abandoned vehicle at the fairgrounds and explained his position to the council.  He has reviewed the water tower documents and saw nothing that needed to be changed.  As a requirement for the KDHE RD Loan, a contract for legal services is required.  He explained the procedure and presented a contract to the council.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to enter into a legal services agreement with Eric Harman for the execution of the RD loan.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY CLERK REPORT:  City Clerk Deb McKivergan reminded the council that in light of the recent ice storm, there are still trees at the tree farm that could be used to replace any damaged trees.  Mayor Olson reported that he had visited with Saloga Tree Farm in Garden City and will coordinate with them to move five trees to the City Park.   The positions serving on the KMEA Board of Directors are set to expire on April 30, 2017.  Councilman Smith made a motion to re-appoint City Administrator Michael Ort to serve as Director #1 and Mayor Derek Olson to serve as Director #2.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY FOREMAN REPORT:  City Foreman Brian Beil reported that the service line repair on Main Street has been completed.  They have been servicing equipment and continue to purchase and change out electric and water meters.  A lot of their time after January 16th was spent repairing storm damage.  Brian reported that the water fountain in the park had suffered damage in the storm.  Brian also reported that the transmission in the pick-up that Larry Fagen drives is going out.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to have Larry order and replace the transmission.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

CITY ADMINISTRATOR REPORT:  City Administrator Michael Ort presented the council with his February schedule.

* Mr. Ort reported that he had followed up with IMA regarding the recent work comp claim and the bill has been submitted to and paid by workers comp.

* He also discussed with the council the lift stations that the city is maintaining.  Mr. Ort will look into who is paying for electricity to pay for the pumps.  He will draft a letter to bring to the next council meeting.  Our current city code states that the cost of obtaining and installing pumping equipment and the operational costs thereof are the responsibility of the owner, so from here forward all we need to do is enforce existing city code.

* Mr. Ort presented a suggested change to the policy manual regarding overtime dealing with emergency restoration of city provided services.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to adopt the change to the policy manual pertaining to call back time.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*Two sewer maintenance program bids were received:   Utility Maintenance Company in the amount of $38,136.00 and Mayer Specialties in the amount of $35,869.20.  Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to approve the bid from Mayer Specialties in the amount of $35,869.20 for a three year service program.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

* Mr. Ort reported on the progress of the water project. Mrs. Hey has offered an additional 35 feet south, to include the large greenhouse and has asked $10,000 in payment for the greenhouse. Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to pay $10,000 for the greenhouse. Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

*Mr. Ort reported that he and Brian met with representatives from KDEM and FEMA today regarding the damage from the recent ice storm.  Because of the low dollar amount of materials needed and the low amount of debris removal we will not qualify for any funds.

*We currently use Data Technologies’ Summit for utility billing and municipal court and Harris’ Fund Accounting for payroll and accounts receivable.  It was recommended by our auditors that we use just one product to eliminate opportunity for fraud and to make the process for posting less time consuming.  Since Harris doesn’t provide utility billing software, they suggested going with Summit.  There would also be a savings on support by using one program.  The total start up costs would be $6,733.33.  This cost would be shared by the general operating, electric, water and sewer funds.  Councilman Pitts made a motion to purchase the Summit Software.  Councilman Steinbring seconded the motion; vote unanimous.  The City Administrator was given authority to purchase any computer updates that may need to be implemented with the purchase of the software.

*Mr. Ort asked the council if they would like him to pursue an option for liability insurance through an organization called KCamp.  Mr. Ort will proceed with obtaining a bid and bring it back to the council.

*Mr. Ort asked for clarification on the legislative intent of the customer charge versus a meter charge.  The council agreed that the charge was a customer charge specific to the customer.

*Mr. Ort reported to the council that Victory Electric is proposing a 6.7% rate increase effective April 1, 2017, that would be reflected on the May electric bill.

*Mr. Ort visited with the council about the safety of the wind towers and that he is working to find someone to take the towers down.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to enter into executive session for 10 minutes with the Council, Mayor, Administrator and City Clerk in attendance, to discuss non-elected personnel.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.  Councilman Steinbring made a motion to come out of executive session.  Councilman Hendrickson seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Smith made a motion to decrease the Assistant City Clerk’s hours from 30 hours to 25 hours per week.  Councilman Pitts seconded the motion; vote unanimous.

Councilman Hendrickson made a motion to adjourn.  Councilman Smith seconded the motion; vote unanimous.